Diaper folding appliance



May 5, 1964 c. M. HESCHL DIAPER FOLDING APPLIANCE Filed Nov. 26, 1962 INVENTOR. 611491165 M. HESCHL M 9 /31 ,Au

fi5'TOR/VE) United States Patent 3,131,837 BIAPER FOLDING APPLIANCE Charles M. Heschl, 15122 Qharles R, East Detroit, Mich. Filed Nov. 2d, 1962, Ser. No. 239,98 9 Claims. (Cl. 223-37} This invention relates to article folding appliances and, in particular, to diaper folding appliances.

One object of this invention is to provide a diaper folding appliance whereby the user can quickly and easily fold a diaper into the size and shape suitable for application to an infant, in a simple, rapid and efiicient manner.

Another object is to provide a diaper folding appliance which is adjustable for folding the diaper into any one of a number of suitable sizes by an easily operated adjustment mechanism.

Another object is to provide a diaper folding appliance wherein the diaper occupies a vertical position in the appliance so that the appliance occupies the minimum floor space and its folding operation is assisted by the force of gravity acting upon the diaper.

Another object is to provide a diaper folding appliance of the foregoing character which is so constructed and arranged that the user may operate it either from a standing or a sitting position, as desired.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will be come apparent during the course of the following description of the accompanying drawing, wherein:

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a diaper folding appliance according to one form of the invention, with the pressure bar in its open position, ready for insertion of the diaper to be folded, with the path of travel of the diaper during folding indicated by the arrow path, and with the lower part of the supporting stand omitted to conserve space;

FIGURE 2 is a top plan view of the appliance shown in FIGURE 1;

FIGURE 3 is an enlarged fragmentary vertical section taken along the line 33 in FIGURE 1, but with the pressure bar shifted to its closed position applying pressure against the diaper, shown in dotted lines;

FIGURE 4 is a perspective view, on a greatly reduced scale, of a diaper folded by the appliance shown in FIG- URES 1 to 3 inclusive; and

FIGURE 5 is a perspective view of the folded diaper of FIGURE 4, further folded for storage.

Referring to the drawing in detail, FIGURE 1 shows in perspective a diaper folding apparatus, generally designated 19, consisting generally of a diaper folding appliance 12 adjustably mounted upon the upright 14 of a supporting stand 16. The lower portion of the stand 16 has been omitted to conserve space and to enable the appliance to be shown upon a larger scale than would otherwise be possible. The lower end of the upright 14 is equipped with a suitable base (not shown), with or without circumferentially-spaced feet, as is well known in conventional flag stands, music stands and the like.

The diaper folding appliance 12 is mounted upon the upright 14 for support and vertical adjustment by means of a horizontal bracket 18 (FIGURES l and 2) having a loop 20 encircling the upright 14 and clamped by a wing bolt 22. By loosening the wing bolt 22, the gripping action of the loop 20 upon the upright 14 is relaxed so that 3,131,83? Patented May 5., 1964 the bracket 18 of the appliance 12 can be moved upward or downward to any level which suits the operator.

The outer end of the bracket 18 is bent as at 24 (FIG- URE 2) and riveted or otherwise secured to the rearward arm 26 of a U-shaped supporting member 28 having a bridge portion 3% connecting it to the forward arm 32 thereof. The rearward arm 26 adjacent its connection to the bracket 18 is bent along its lower edge portion as at 34 to form an inclined support for the lower edge portion 36 of an elongated friction pad 38 of bulbous cross-section formed from resilient material, such as foam rubber or foam plastic. The edge portion 36 of the pad 38 is secured to the inclined supporting portion 34 by a retaining bar 49 riveted or otherwise secured thereto (FIGURE 3).

The forward arm 32 of the supporting member 23 is provided for the major portion of its length with an elongated narrow slot 42 provided at intervals along its lower edge with detent notches 44. Above the slot 42, the forward arm 32 is provided with a cutaway portion 46 extending downwardly from the upper edge thereof and extending lengthwise for a distance slightly greater than the length of the pad 38 so that the latter can tilt forward through the opening provided by the cutaway portion 46 (FIGURE 3), and also to enable the application to the pad 38 of a movable pressure bar 48 of arcuate crosssection and of a length also sli htly less than the length of the cutaway portion or opening 46. The pressure bar is welded, riveted or otherwise secured at its approximate midportion to the end portion 50 (FIGURE 3) of a bent supporting rod 52 pivotally mounted in the aligned drilled opposite arms 54 and 56 (FIGURE 2) of a J-shaped bracket 58 having a bridge portion 60 interconnecting the arms 54 and 5s. The longer arm 56 is horizontal and riveted or otherwise suitably connected to the bridge portion 39 of the supporting member 28. Mounted on the end of the rod 52 immediately outside the arm 54 is a hub 62 secured thereto by a set screw 64 and carrying a handle lever 66 terminating in a handle or knob 68. The unit consisting of the handle 58, lever 66, hub d2, bent rod 52 and pressure bar 48 is generally designated as the pressure applicator 7i and may be swung from its open position of FIGURES 1 and 2 to its closed position of FIGURE 3 by manipulating the handle lever 66 by means of the knob 58, as described below in connection with the operation of the appliance 10.

Secured to the outer end of the upper edge of the arm 32 of the supporting member 28 is a diaper folding guide frame structure, generally designated 72, of approximately rectangular outline and composed of stationary and movable units or frames, generally designated '74 and 76 respectively (FIGURE 1). The stationary frame 74 has a horizontal upper part 7 3 including a U-shaped reverselybent upper right-hand corner portion 80 welded or otherwise secured to the upper outer corner of the arm 32 of the supporting member 28, a dipped central portion 82 extending downwardly below the cutaway portion 46 of the arm 32, and an upstanding reversely-bent portion 84 integral with and joined at a shoulder 85 to a straight left side portion 85 which in turn is integral with a straight lower horizontal part 3-8. The horizontal part 88 is integral with a straight intermediate side portion 943, the upper end 92 of which is bent in L-shaped form and welded or otherwise secured to the outer end of the arm 32 immediately beneath the U-shaped portion 81) of the upper part 7 8.

a thumb and forefinger.

The movable unit 76 of the diaper folding guide frame structure 72 is connected by a tubular slider 94 (FIG- URE l) to the lower part 88 of the stationary unit 74 for sliding motion therealong. Welded or otherwise secured to the slider 94 is the straight lower horizontal part 96 of the movable unit 76 having an integral straight right side part 98. The right side part 98 is joined at a shoulder 99 to a reversely-bent upstanding portion 100 which in turn terminates in an approximately Z-shaped portion 102, the lower end of which is welded or otherwise secured to the outer or right-hand end portion of a slide bar 1&4. The/left and right side portions 86 and 98 converge downwardly from their respective shoulders 85 and 99. The slide bar 2104- is disposed immediately behind the arm 72 of the supporting member 28 in fiace-to-face sliding engagement therewith and to its inner end is secured a headed stud 106, the shank of which projects throughthe slot 42 but is of too large a diameter to enter any of the detent notches 44. Spaced longitudinally away from the headed stud 16-6 is a second headed stud 108 similarly secured to the slide bar 164 but with a smaller diameter shank than the stud 166 capable of entering the notches 44 and offset slightly vertically from the stud 186 when the shank of the stud H8 is in one of the detent notches 44, so that the larger diameter shank of the stud 1G6 always in sliding engagement with the lower edge of the slot 42 above the notches 44.

Prior to operating the appliance it}, it is first adjusted to produce a folded diaper D of the desired width. To do this, the operator grasps the upstanding portion 100 of the. diaper guide frame 7 4 as a handle and lifts upward upon it toswing the slide bar 194- upward around the stud 1% as a pivot, pulling the smaller diameter shank of the stud 168 out of the notch 44 in which it is located, pulling the slide bar llltoutwardly or pushing it inwardly, as desired, until the desired interval or distance is obtained between the side members 86 and 98 of the stationary and movable units 74 and 76, whereupon the operator releases his grasp upon theupstanding portion 108 so as to let the slide bar 1&4 swing downward and permit the shank of the .stud 188 to drop into the nearest detent notch 44, locking the diaper guide frame 72 in its adjusted position.

In the operation of the invention, to fold a diaper D (FIGURE 4) into three sections A, B and C with the sec- "tions A and C normally overlapping one another, the operator, having swung the pressure applicator 7 to its open position (FIGURE 1), spreads out the diaper vertically,

' then grasps the upper corners of the open diaper D between the thumbs and forefingers'of his two hands and moves the upper left-hand corner portion of the diaper into the space between the friction pad 38 and the slide bar 184 by passing it in the path shown by the'left-hand arrows in the upper portion of FIGURE .1 from a position in front of the guide frame structure 72. around and behind the left side frame member as and its upstanding portion 84-, holding the upper edges of the thus-overlapped diaper sections B and C temporarily between his left He then threads the right-hand upper corner portion of the diaper section A in the direction of the path indicated by the right-hand arrows in the upper portion of FIGURE 1 around and behind the right side frame member 98 and itsupstanding portion 198 into the position shown in FIGURE 2 behind and in overlappingrelationship with the left-hand diaper section C.

Hold-ing'the now overlapped upper right-hancl and lefthaud corners of the diaper between his right-hand thumb and forefinger he swings the handle lever 66 forward .to

' swing the pressure bar 48 of'the pressure applicator 7% into engagement withthe front sections B and C of the diaper D, forcing them through the elongated opening 46 into frictional engagement with the rearwardsection A "against the friction pad 38, with the lower portions of the three sections hanging loosely around the guide frame 7 2,

under the action of the fonce of, gravity. Grasping the overlapping upper portions of the sections A and C and the adjacent portion of the section B between the thumb and fingers of both hands, the operator than pulls straight upward on the thus-folded diaper, the loose lower section portions of which straighten automatically, leaving the sections A, B and C frictionally engaging one another as shown in FIGURE 4. P

If the diaper is not to be used immediately, but is to be further folded for storage, the operator withdraws the folded diaper from the appliance 10 and then lowers it so that it immediately drops into his or her lap, whereupon he or she folds it manually in a direction perpendicular to the previous folding into three other sections E, F and G.

-T he shoulders and 99 on the side frame members 86 and 98 senve to retain the cloth of the diaper in its working position by preventing it from sliding downward. At the same time, the downwardly-converging arrangement .of the side members 86 and 98 enables the lower portions of the diaper sections A and C to overlapv one another more loosely and to a greater extent than if the side members 86 and 98 were parallel, with the result a diaper gripper connected to said supporting structure a in proximity to said forward member and adapted to hold a portion of the diaper adjacent said forward member,

a diaper folding guide structure connected at one end to said supporting structure and having laterally-spaced downwardly-directed guide edges,

said guide structure being spaced away from said forward member and providing a diaper folding path of approximately elongated oval crosssection between said forward member and. said guide structure,

and a pressing member connected to one of said structures and movable past said guide structure into and out of pres-sing engagement with the diaper trained around said guide structure.

, 2. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 1, wherein said forward member along its upper portion has an opening disposed adjacent said diaper gripper enabling said pnessing member to press the forward and intermedi- 3. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 1,

wherein said diaper gripper includes a resilient element connected to said rearward member and extending forward therefrom into close pronimity to said forward member and adapted to hold a portion of the diaper thereagainst.

4. A'diaper-folding wherein said rearward and forward members are disposed in spaced substantially parallel relationship, wherein 'a bridge member interconnects said rearward and fonvard members at one end only thereof, and wherein the space therebetween at their opposite ends is open for insertion of one side portion of the diaper. 7

5. A. diaperefolding appliance, acoording to claim 4, wherein the diaper folding guide structure is connected to ward and forward members.

- 6. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 4,'

wherein said diaper folding guide structure is connected appliance, according to claim 1,

to said :opposite end of said forward member and extends 9. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 8, reversely relatively thereto in spaced substantially parallel wherein said guide structure has laterally-extending shoulrelationship therewith. ders between said upstanding portions and said lower por- 7. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 1, tions of said guide edges. wherein said diaper folding guide structure includes a sta- 5 tionary guide unit and -a movable guide unit adjustably References Cited in the file 0f this P9163t mounted relatively to said stationary guide unit for exten- UNITED STATES PATENTS sion laterally relatively thereto.

8. A diaper-folding appliance, according to claim 1, g a g wherein said guide structure has upstanding portions dis- 10 61 6g posed t it it comers. Rickard p 

1. A DIAPER-FOLDING APPLIANCE, COMPRISING A GENERALLY HORIZONTAL SUPPORTING STRUCTURE INCLUDING A REARWARD SUPPORTING MEMBER AND A FORWARD SUPPORTING MEMBER DISPOSED IN SPACED RELATIONSHIP, A DIAPER GRIPPER CONNECTED TO SAID SUPPORTING STRUCTURE IN PROXIMITY TO SAID FORWARD MEMBER AND ADAPTED TO HOLD A PORTION OF THE DIAPER ADJACENT SAID FORWARD MEMBER, A DIAPER FOLDING GUIDE STRUCTURE CONNECTED AT ONE END TO SAID SUPPORTING STRUCTURE AND HAVING LATERALLY-SPACED DOWNWARDLY-DIRECTED GUIDE EDGES, SAID GUIDE STRUCTURE BEING SPACED AWAY FROM SAID FORWARD MEMBER AND PROVIDING A DIAPER FOLDING PATH OF APPROXIMATELY ELONGATED OVAL CROSS-SECTION BETWEEN SAID FORWARD MEMBER AND SAID GUIDE STRUCTURE, AND A PRESSING MEMBER CONNECTED TO ONE OF SAID STRUCTURES AND MOVABLE PAST SAID GUIDE STRUCTURE INTO AND OUT OF PRESSING ENGAGEMENT WITH THE DIAPER TRAINED AROUND SAID GUIDE STRUCTURE. 